Hot Dog Bun Recipe for the Bread Machine
Looking for a good hot dog bun recipe? I tried a lot of them before I found a good one. Then I realized that hot dog buns aren’t hard to make at all. And talk about delicious!
Last Updated on June 28, 2025 – Originally published September 24, 2015
I’ve lost track of how many hot dog bun recipes I tried before I found one that worked. Once I found the right recipe, I realized that hot dog buns aren’t hard to make at all.
Over the years, I tried different hot dog bun recipes. I tried different methods of shaping the dough. I even bought a hot dog bun pan. It was okay, but I wanted to make more traditionally shaped buns without a special pan.
I kept working on it, but I just couldn’t get it right.
Finally, I had a breakthrough. I found a way to make hot dog buns with my bread machine. All that time spent searching was totally worth it! These hot dog buns are fantastic. Also, once I found the right recipe, I discovered that it’s really easy to make homemade hot dog buns.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here are some comments I’ve received:
Family really enjoys these buns. They won’t eat store-bought anymore.
My 27 yr-old son said they were “ridiculously good”!
Absolutely outstanding recipe. I didn’t have to adjust anything and they came out amazing.
Making Hot Dog Buns in the Bread Machine
The recipe is below. It’s for a two-pound bread machine. You’ll be using the dough setting.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. I have a Zojirushi bread machine and with that, I add the liquid first.
Check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. By that I mean, open the top of the bread machine and look at the dough. It should be a smooth, round ball. If it’s too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks OK. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks like it should.
When the dough cycle is completed, remove the dough. Put it on a lightly floured board and divide it into three equal sections.
Then divide those sections into three pieces.
The goal is to get 9 pieces of dough about the same size.
Now roll the dough into an oblong shape with a rolling pin. I try to get the oval about eight inches in length.
Fold the dough in half. Pinch the edges closed.
Fold the dough in half again. Pinch the edges closed. Turn the bun so that the fold is on the bottom. Tuck the top and bottom edges of the bun underneath. Give the bun a few pats to shape it and put it on a greased pan. (Parchment paper works fine too.)
Cover the buns with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel and let the buns rise for half an hour.
Then remove the towel and put the buns in a 375-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Move the cooked buns to a rack to cool.
I now have two recipes for hot dog buns. Both are great!
The second recipe, challah hot dog buns, are tender and pillowy soft. Plus, the egg wash makes them so pretty.
Hot Dog Bun Recipe for the Bread Machine
Again, this hot dog recipe is for a two-pound bread machine. You’ll be using the dough setting.
1 ½ cups milk
4 cups bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons oil
1 ¾ teaspoons active dry yeast (To make this recipe using the quick cycle of your bread machine, substitute active dry yeast with three teaspoons of rapid rise yeast.)
Hot Dog Bun Recipe
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (354.9 ml) milk
- 4 cups (500 g) bread flour
- 1 ¼ Teaspoon (1.2 Teaspoon) salt
- 4 Tablespoons (3.9 Tablespoons) sugar
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ¾ Teaspoons (1.7 Teaspoons) active dry yeast To make this recipe using the quick cycle of your bread machine, substitute active dry yeast with three teaspoons of rapid rise yeast.
Instructions
- This is a recipe for a two-pound machine. Use the dough cycle.
- Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. I have a Zojirushi Breadmaker and with that, I add the liquid first.
- Check on the dough after five or ten minutes of kneading. Open the top of the bread machine and look at the dough. It should be a smooth, round ball. If it’s too dry add liquid a teaspoon at a time until it looks OK. If it looks too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks like it should.
- When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board and divide it into three equal sections.
- Then divide each of those sections into three pieces.
- The goal is to get 9 sections of dough about the same size.
- Roll the dough into an oblong shape with a rolling pin. I try to get the oval about eight inches in length.
- Fold the dough in half. Pinch the edges. Fold it in half again. Pinch the edges. Turn the bun so the fold on the bottom. Tuck the top and bottom edges underneath. Give it a few pats to shape it and put it on a greased pan. (Parchment paper works fine too.)
- Cover the buns with a clean, lightweight kitchen towel and let the buns rise for half an hour.
- Then remove the towel and put the buns in a 375-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Move the cooked buns to a rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
All information presented within this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on breadmachinediva.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. I try to provide accurate information to the best of my ability; however these figures should still be considered estimates.
These were really, really good! I rather failed at shaping and several of them half-unrolled during baking so were rather funky looking, but still delicious! Will definitely make them again, and I think they would make great rolls too.
This turned out great. I used rapid rise yeast (it comes in a jar and says it’s for bread machines) using 1/2 the amount listed in this recipe, based on my past experience with other bread machine recipes. They rose perfectly and my boyfriend loved them too!
Mine turned out kinda dense – not fluffy. I used 1 3/4 tsp of bread machine yeast was that not enough?
The problem could be the flour. Here’s an article on measuring flour. Note that I use the “scoop and sweep” method. It works great unless my flour gets too packed. It needs to be fluffed.
Absolutely outstanding recipe. I didn’t have to adjust anything and they came out amazing. I cooked half of them as recipe was written, the other half I brushed with melted butter. NO need for the butter on top!! They brown perfectly as the recipe is written. The ones brushed with butter actually came out a dusty brown and not golden as baked without the brushing of butter. I’ve never been so excited to have hot dogs for dinner. Haha! I tried half of one with just some butter to see how they taste. Perfectly awesome! I’m impressed.
Made this recipe with gluten-free flour and extra milk/oil to offset the dryness of the gluten-free and it came out amazing! Telhey were golden brown and light and fluffy. I made half the dough into hotdogs and the other half hamburger buns and they both came out great! Thank you for an amazing recipe!
I am new to this and a little confused. I have a Breadman Machine it only has 1 dough cycle. I normally use the instant (rapid) yeast since that is recommended for that machine. How much yeast do I use? 1 3/4 tsp or 3 tsp?
Thank you
I’d look at other dough setting recipes for your machine and see how much yeast looks right. A second way to go about this would be to convert the 1 3/4 active dry to instant yeast using the formula on this page: https://www.breadmachinediva.com/what-is-bread-machine-yeast/
Hi Marsha, I used butter instead of olive oil and use whole powdered milk. This recipe did not disappoint. My machine is a 1 and 1/2 pound but the 4 cups of bread flour worked perfectly. The buns are perfect and just what we were looking for. I was hesitant about the 4 tablespoons of sugar but there is nothing sweet about these buns. Thank you!
Thanks so much for the comment!
I made these and they were perfect. Highly recommend.
I made this fantastic recipe today. Excellent! I started making bread when my kids were babies and they’ve really never had store bought. Now my son is almost 30 and bakes bread for his kids. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Has anyone saved some for the freezer? Do they freeze well?
Thank you SO much for this recipe!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe. Yes, we freeze these all the time!
I haven’t made these hot dog buns yet but I do freeze Hamburger Buns (recipe on this site). They freeze beautifully.
I have pulled my bread machine out of retirement during Covid…sat dormant 20 years…family in love with freshly baked bread 😍😍😋😋😋
Used bread machine yeast..grew huge, but look awesome, perfect for the local sausages I bought, will advise on outcome 😎
I hope you like them!
I have a question about the yeast. Can I use Fleishman’s Bread Machine yeast and get the same results?
You’ll need to adjust the amount of yeast, but yes. See this article about different types of yeast to get the right amount.
I have a new bread machine and not sure which cycle to use, I have raw dough and leaven dough?
Interesting. I’ve never heard of two dough settings before. Most machines just have one. You’ll want to check out your owners manual to see the difference between the two cycles and which would be best.
BTW, what machine is it?
Use 1 1/3 tsp. of bread machine yeast for this recipe.
I should have read down to your comment. I used the conversion table on this site and used 7/8 tsp of rapid yeast. It’s looking good in the bread machine and is close to ready to shape.
I have to admit that these are my favorite buns so far. They came out very well and my husband liked them, too. I didn’t roll them out like you did. After I divided the dough into 12 pieces, I just pulled and shaped them into long rolls.
Great recipe, I used coconut milk instead and it worked well. I even made it as a loaf and did egg wash on top. It worked well.
These are our favorite buns in our house!! I wish my bread maker could do a double batch, because these do not last long enough!! Thank you!!
Thanks so much for the great comment!
Oh my God! my 7yrs old twin boys when I asked them “how do you like the bread?” Their answer was in unison: “It taste like heaven” Thanks a million, excellent recipe.
Thanks so much for this! You made my day!
I made these for my family since we are under a stay at home order and my husband and sons wanted hotdogs over a campfire for dinner. I shaped them into 12 rolls and they were the perfect size. I rubbed the tips with a little butter when they came out of the oven. My 27 yr-old son said they were “ridiculously good”! Great texture and making 12 was the same size as a store bought role. These rolls are a hit with my family!
I’m so glad your family liked them!
Your recipe was great and thank you for sharing. Because I needed only six buns, I cut your recipe in half and the only thing I needed to do was add a small amount of milk ten minutes into bread machine process as you mentioned might needed to be done. The only thing I added was some brushed melted butter to the tops of the buns prior to putting them in the oven. This gave the buns a nice golden color and adding to their deliciousness.
This recipe looked great. I made a couple of changes when I made it today. I substituted 1/2 cup buttermilk for 1/2 cup of the regular milk. I also substituted 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the bread flour. Result didn’t seem to change anything but may have given the rolls a little extra zing. They came out wonderfully and my family is loving them!
Great recipe, followed instructions exactly and the results were excellent!
So glad you liked them!
Thank you for this recipe. I used it this evening and made 8 buns.
Everything turned out better than the photos on your website.
Used the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus. Great machine for this recipe and overall making breads/doughs/etc.
Thanks again,
Mike
I’m so glad you liked it!
thank you so much for this wonderfull recipe never ever buying from the shop again.
Thanks for this great comment! You’ve made my day!
Can I use regular flour instead of bread flour?
It depends on how much gluten is in the flour. In general, all-purpose flour has a gluten content of 9% to 12%. Bread flour typically has a gluten range of 10% to 13%. Note the overlapping areas. You can learn more here.
My family loved these! I am low carb so I didn’t get to eat any :(, but I felt good about giving them a homemade bun with minimal ingredients. I might try to get 11 or 12 out of the recipe next time, they were so much more hearty than the store-bought. Thanks for a great recipe!
Just a comment about being ‘low carb’ which I am because of my Diabetic 2 diet. I found that if you scoop out part of the inside that I can have the rest of the bun and all the flavor and still stay within my total carbs for the meal. Of course I limit other foods that contain carbs to balance the total number of carbs, which I do’t mind because I love bread. There is always a way to work bread into your meal by portion size. I also weigh the bun before I take scoop the bread out of the bun and I usually can cut the carbs in half or nearly half. Low enough to keep the total within my meal carb limits. I know the first comment about carbs was in 2019, but still wanted to share this comment.
I made these today and they were great! I made them a bit smaller (11 buns) and at 350 for 15 minutes they were perfect.
Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m so glad that you liked them!
I made this recipe but I made it into 16 smaller hot dog buns. I made them to fit the smaller size hot dogs. I love this recipe.
Thanks for the comment! I’m so glad you like the recipe!
Family really enjoys these buns. They won’t eat store-bought anymore.
Thanks so much for letting me know. You made my day!!
Buns were perfect. I made only 8 buns. I wanted them a little larger for homemade sausages. All worked great. Me and my Zojirushi have been making bread now for a number of years. We have not purchased bread for over three years now.
Thanks so much for leaving a comment. I use this recipe all the time. One of my goals is to get better at shaping the buns.
I just started making my buns with this recipe since the quarantine. Love it! My family says no more store bought. I make them in exact amount needed. I can make hot dog, hamburger and a large sandwich bun to fit all my needs for a week out of this recipe. Loving my bread machine. I bought to make my bread with little salt before my kidney transplant and kept the bread machine. So glad I did.